Southern First Bancshares (NASDAQ:SFST) Director Ray Lattimore Sells 253 Shares

Southern First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFST) Director Ray Lattimore sold 253 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $59.28, for a total transaction of $14,997.84. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 1,127 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $66,808.56. This represents a 18.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink.

Southern First Bancshares Trading Down 1.8%

Shares of SFST stock opened at $61.36 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.10, a current ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70. The firm has a market cap of $580.47 million, a P/E ratio of 13.14 and a beta of 0.67. The company has a 50 day moving average of $59.94 and a 200-day moving average of $57.34. Southern First Bancshares, Inc. has a 12-month low of $38.30 and a 12-month high of $64.06.

Southern First Bancshares (NASDAQ:SFST) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 21st. The bank reported $1.20 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.19 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $20.40 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $36.30 million. Southern First Bancshares had a return on equity of 10.76% and a net margin of 16.78%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Southern First Bancshares, Inc. will post 5.45 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Southern First Bancshares

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Marshall Wace LLP lifted its holdings in shares of Southern First Bancshares by 215.6% during the 4th quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 50,451 shares of the bank’s stock worth $2,599,000 after acquiring an additional 34,466 shares during the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC grew its position in Southern First Bancshares by 17.7% during the 1st quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 150,607 shares of the bank’s stock worth $8,208,000 after acquiring an additional 22,700 shares during the last quarter. Informed Momentum Co LLC bought a new position in shares of Southern First Bancshares in the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,106,000. Sei Investments Co. increased its position in shares of Southern First Bancshares by 147.3% in the first quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 34,706 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,891,000 after acquiring an additional 20,673 shares during the period. Finally, Gabelli Funds LLC increased its holdings in Southern First Bancshares by 39.7% during the 4th quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC now owns 60,578 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $3,121,000 after purchasing an additional 17,228 shares during the period. 75.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Wall Street Zen cut Southern First Bancshares from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Southern First Bancshares from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research report on Monday, May 4th. Finally, Zacks Research raised shares of Southern First Bancshares from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 22nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and two have assigned a Buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $64.00.

Southern First Bancshares Company Profile

Southern First Bancshares is the bank holding company for Southern First Bank, a community-oriented financial institution headquartered in Greenville, South Carolina. Through its wholly owned subsidiary, the company delivers a full spectrum of commercial and consumer banking services designed to meet the needs of small and midsize businesses, professionals, and individual customers. Southern First Bancshares operates under a relationship-driven model, emphasizing personalized service and local decision–making.

The company’s core offerings include deposit products such as checking, savings, money market accounts and certificates of deposit, alongside an array of lending solutions covering commercial real estate, construction, equipment financing and small business administration (SBA) loans.